Department of Health and Social Care

Coronavirus: Protective Clothing and Screening

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government what due diligence they undertook to ensure that (1) lateral flow tests, and (2) personal protective equipment, imported from China were not made with the use of slave labour.

Lord Bethell: A dedicated team within the Department’s Test and Trace programme has been responsible for overseeing a rigorous inspection and auditing process for all Lateral Flow Device (LFD) suppliers outside of the United Kingdom, which includes a Business Social Compliance Initiative Human Rights audit.All three of these suppliers manufacture the devices in China and have been assessed as Acceptable (C) overall, with further improvement needed with regards to social management systems and working hours. No evidence of child labour, forced labour or unethical business behaviour were identified over the course of these audits, which are valid for 12 months from the date of issue at which point a further audit will take place.The Department was aware that the direct, urgent sourcing and purchasing of Personal Protective Equipment in 2020 involved high-risk areas in terms of ethical and business practices and had a number of mitigations in place. To combat Modern Slavery concerns, the Department engaged widely with NHS Supply Chain, the Home Office (HO) and the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office regarding Modern Slavery issues in awarding contracts. Additional training and guidance was rapidly created and distributed to strengthen buying professionals knowledge of modern slavery risks specific to the pandemic. Working with HO colleagues, the Department participated in a cross-government project to increase the modern slavery awareness of procurement professionals which included supplier training and workshops.